Is Tea Actually A No-No? Check These Harmful Tea Ingredients

Is tea good or bad for you?

A vast majority of people across the globe drink two to three cups of tea a day. For a number of people, a cup of tea after a long day offers an excellent way to unwind.

Even health experts recommend drinking tea owing to the numerous benefits associated with the drink. Almost half of the population in the United States drinks tea on a daily basis. The tea market has expanded considerably over the past decade and there are different varieties of tea that are known to improve your immune system, digestion, and metabolism.

Studies have proved that drinking tea can reduce your risk of developing diabetes, ovarian cancer, and heart disease. This can be attributed to the fact that tea is rich in antioxidants and magnesium. Tea, specifically green tea, has 10 times more antioxidants than any fresh fruit or vegetable. The antioxidants present in tea help in detoxifying your body of harmful chemicals and other toxic materials that can cause cancer. Green tea is also known to lower LDL levels. Consumption of green tea helps in regulating pH levels and thereby promotes your overall health.

A close examination of the ingredients that make up your tea would maybe make you think twice before consuming your regular cup of tea. A number of modern tea brands sell their teas by harping on the health benefits offered by tea, and you're happy to drink it all up.

It is important to know that tea is never washed before it is filled in tea bags. This implies that if harmful cancer-causing pesticides were sprayed on tea plants, you will find traces of the pesticides in your tea bags as well, after which you drink them.

Vari Hari, the owner of a renowned food blog, performed certain investigations which involved asking questions related to the practices adopted by food companies. An examination was also done to analyze the ingredients of conventional teas. The results were shocking and are sure to shake us all up. We all need to be aware of the harmful ingredients that are making their way in the most commonly consumed tea products.

There is no denying the fact that there are numerous health benefits of drinking tea. However, you need to choose the right tea and be sure that the ingredients are free of hazardous chemicals.

Harmful Ingredients in Popular Tea brands

Some of the popular brands of tea on investigation revealed that they had traces of harmful ingredients such as pesticides, artificial flavoring, GMOs, and packaging material.

• Pesticides: An analysis was done by the Glaucus Research Group and it revealed that there were considerable amounts of pesticides in a very popular tea brand, Celestial Seasonings. As much as 91 percent of the teas from this specific brand had residual pesticides which far exceeded the tolerance limits, as specified in the United States. Since most varieties of tea leaves are not washed before being packaged in tea bags, and can't be, tea drinkers run the risk of getting exposed to these cancer-causing pesticides when they sit down for a nice cuppa.

• Artificial Flavoring: Various brands of teas contain artificial flavors. A vast majority of teas sold under the Teavana brand contain added flavors. Most of these teas specify ‘no artificial color’ but list ‘flavors’ as an ingredient in the brochures. It is not clearly specified whether the flavoring is natural or artificial. The added flavors could be modifications of chemicals like coal tar and crude oil which are often used as additives in alcohol, candy, and other foods.

• Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs): There is a likelihood that tea companies are adding GMOs to their teas. Some teas contain additives such as soy lecithin and corn starch, which are often made from genetically modified organisms.

• Plastic: Certain tea brands such as Mighty Lead and Tea Forte sell their teas in exquisite bags which show the tea leafs. These bags, often known as silky sachets or mesh bags, are made from plastic. Polylactic acid (PLA) is a corn based material which used for making tea bags. PLA tea bags are supposed to be biodegradable. PLA is processed in such a way that genetic material gets removed. However, PLA itself is made using genetically modified organisms. These PLA tea bags are placed in boiling water as part of the tea making process. Though most tea bags are made from safe plastics such as food grade nylon and polyethylene terephthalate (PET), the molecules of the plastic tea bags can still break and leak out when placed in boiling water. This raises the possibility of the tea inside these tea bags getting contaminated with harmful phthalates. These tea bags are also bad for the environment, giving you another reason to ditch them in favor of loose tea.

• Paper: Tea bags made from paper can also pose a health risk for tea drinkers. Paper tea bags are often treated with the chemical epichlorohydrin. This chemical has been declared as a potential carcinogen by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Epichlorohydrin is also used as a pesticide and on contact with water, it breaks down into 3-MCPD, which is an organic chemical considered to be a carcinogen and is known to cause impaired immunity and infertility in rats and cancer in animals.

Tips for Selecting the Safest Tea

We all know that drinking tea offers numerous health benefits in addition to being an important daily ritual that can help you keep your stress levels under control. However, keeping in mind the harmful ingredients found in tea, it is best advised to follow the tips given below while selecting your tea:

• Opt for organic and non-GMO certified brands of teas.

• Go through the ingredient list carefully and see if it contains added flavors and GMO ingredients such as corn starch and soy lecithin.

• Ensure that the packaging material is safe. Else buy loose leaf tea and use a glass or stainless steel tea strainer. If you are buying tea bags, ensure that they do not contain epichlorophydrin.